Honorary fellows

Dr Sue Bishop

I study later twentieth-century British society and culture, so far focusing on women’s history, race and immigration, the everyday and emotions. Most of my work uses new oral histories collected from local people. This includes my recent PhD, ‘Because I liked him too much’: Intercultural romantic relationships, female agency and the origins of everyday multiculturalism in later twentieth-century Leicester.

Dr Liam McCarthy

Research interests centre on the BBC and Leicester from the 1940s and in particular local media, the politics of immigration, race relations, and social inclusion. My research includes the American ‘Race Riots’ in Leicester in 1944 between white and African American GI’s, the coverage of race and immigration in the local media, the rise and fall of the National Front and BNP in Leicester, and my 2020 University of Leicester PhD Thesis, ‘Connecting with new Asian Communities: BBC local radio 1967-1990’ . I am currently writing a book for Palgrave Macmillan titled Finding a New British Asian Sound and have published chapters in two books marking the centenary of the BBC.

Burt McNeil

Current doctoral student, HyPIR. Thesis title: ‘Recalibrating for a Changing World: How people in Leicester who relied on factory work dealt with the transformation to a new type of job economy, 1970-2010.’ This is an investigation of Post Deindustrialized Leicester, and my research will be strongly focused on new oral history interviews. How did people adjust to the new work culture and changing community, and what did they do differently? How has the change in people’s situation affected their outlook, views, aspirations, and their belief in society?

Why were some people able to adjust and perhaps prosper in the new socio-economy, while others were left behind? I may narrow down the scope of the study in due course.